64th Anniversary of the November 1st Revolution of Algeria

Ambassador Abd-El-Naceur Belaid of Algeria in South Africa hosted a reception to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the November 1st Revolution of Algeria.

Photo: Ambassador Abd-El-Naceur Belaid of Algeria and Ms Hendrietta Ipeleng Bogopane-Zulu, Deputy Minister of Social Development

South Africa and Algeria have good political relations and are working on also raising their economic and trade relations. There are synergies in especially the agricultural and tourism sectors. During the visit of Algerian Foreign Affairs Minister, His Excellency Mr. Abdelkader Messahel, to South Africa, an ambitious and concrete roadmap including the setting up of the Algerian-South African business forum, was established. It is envisioned that this will facilitate the elevation of relations.

Remarks of H.E. Mr Abd-El-Naceur Belaid Ambassador of Algeria to South Africa in Celebrating the 64th Anniversary of the Launching of the Revolution of 1st November 1954

Allow me, first and foremost, to thank you all for your presence at this celebration of the 64th anniversary of the November 1st Revolution.

This Glorious Revolution is not the exclusive property of the Algerian people as it represents a shared heritage between Algeria and the rest of the world in general, and in particular with African and Arab peoples. It is the pride of all peoples struggling for their freedom and dignity. It is a pride for all the peoples “the wretched of the earth” as described by Frantz Fanon, the first Algerian Ambassador to Ghana under the rule of Kwame Nkrumah.

If it is true that the Algerian people had consented enormous sacrifices to the extent that 1,5 million martyrs gave up their precious lives for the revolution of liberation, Algeria as a nation is not the only legatee. The values of emancipation against colonialism and all forms of foreign domination are those of all peoples aspiring to freedom and dignity. In other words, in accessing universality, the Revolution of November does not belong to us alone, us Algerians.

In our African continent, the Algerian Revolution and its message mark, indelibly, the march of our peoples throughout the modern history.

This year, we are celebrating the anniversary of this Revolution on the soil of South Africa that celebrates the centenary of the birth of two icons of the emancipatory struggle of the South African people, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu.

The junction of these two milestone anniversaries is an opportunity to remember the historical trajectory shared by the Algerian and South African peoples.

As a sign of fidelity to the main actor of the foundation of the exceptional relationship between Algeria and South Africa, my country, which decreed a national mourning of eight days at the time of the passing of Madiba, has had to express to this giant its constant fidelity by publishing, last July, a special postage-stamp in his honour. We are grateful to the icon for having proclaimed "Algeria is my country" and for having devoted, after his release from prison, his first trip abroad to Algeria. We are also appreciative to the declaration made by Madiba declaring his brotherhood with the icons of the Algerian Revolution amongst them Larbi Ben M’Hidi, the main figure in the famous film “The Battle of Algiers”.

By evoking the memory of Albertina Sisulu, we salute the merit of an exemplary militant, resolutely engaged in the defense of the cause of her people. We would like also to pay tribute to her husband, Walter Sisulu, who together with the other leaders of the ANC, had decided to meet and coordinate with the Algerian Revolution. Nelson Mandela, together with Robert Resha, have not only concretized this historical encounter after the Bandung Conference and “All African Peoples’ Conference” but also laid the founding milestones of the historical relationship between Algeria and South Africa. It should be remembered also that Nelson Mandela had not only received military training at the National Liberation Army's West Base, but also contributed to the defining of the conjunction of solidarity efforts that would draw the links between the Algerian and South African peoples.

Since the advent of free and democratic South Africa, our two countries have maintained strategic relations that have resulted in the establishment of one of the first, if not the first High Bi-national Commission of Cooperation. Inspired by the same values and principles, Algeria and South Africa are always on the same line, be it in the defense and the promotion of the interests of Africa or in the defense of the legitimate right of the last African people in struggle, the people of Western Sahara.

Beyond our continent, our two countries find themselves intimately and sincerely committed to their indefectible support for the Palestinian people.

In this regard, allow me to renew our fraternal congratulations to South Africa for its brilliant election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. We are convinced that through South Africa, we have within that institution a Member State resolutely committed to the promotion of the interests of Africa in the vital fields of peace, security and stability and in the defense of just causes.For various considerations that may have delayed attaining the targeted objective, our two countries face the challenge of raising their economic and trade relations to the level of their political relations. On both sides we are striving for it, and the potential for an economic and trade relationship is as strong as it is in all sectors, including the sectors of agriculture and tourism that are undergoing a significant transformation in my country.

A new impetus in this endeavor has been initiated by the official visit to South Africa on last August of our Foreign Affairs Minister, His Excellency Mr. Abdelkader Messahel, which has resulted in an ambitious and concrete roadmap including the setting up of the Algerian-South African business forum. Considering this new momentum, we are reassured that the upcoming year of 2019 will bring its set of achievements towards this objective.

The participation of South Africa in the last edition of the International Fair of Algiers has already proved this potential.

After the lost years due to the tragic decade of terrorism, Algerian companies, that are currently asserting themselves internationally, including in industrialized countries, particularly in the field of electronics, will also be the vectors of the economic partnership between our two countries.

In our common approach towards more rapprochements between our two peoples, Algeria and South Africa have organized, during these last two years, respective Cultural Weeks in Algiers and in Pretoria.

In the fields of science and technology, Algeria and South Africa already have an exemplary and mutually beneficial partnership.A mutually appreciated decentralized cooperation is going on.

All those aspects and sectors that benefit the bilateral relations between Algeria and South Africa are also designed to contribute to the integration of our continent, from the extreme North to the extreme South and from the extreme South to the extreme North.

At a time when Africa is working to implement its Agenda 2063 and has decided to create the Continental Free Trade Zone, it is clear that our two countries each have a role in the accomplishment of this goal, which will bring together not only the African economies but also the African peoples as one of the strong responses to the challenges they face. In this respect, the problem of some of our youths that are tempted by illegal immigration to the risk of their lives challenges us.

It is, therefore, quite obvious that what Algeria and South Africa accomplish for Africa at the political level to ensure the autonomy of the continental decision in a world in turmoil and burdened with challenges, would also be translated economically.

After these words, I would like to invite you to raise a toast to the health of Their Excellencies President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA and President Cyril RAMAPHOSA as well as to the fraternity between Algeria and South Africa and in Africa as a whole.